World Cup soccer could suck more life out of trading

Watching the World Cup is definitely more fun than watching the market.

As global sports fans gear up for the world\’s largest soccer event, which is kicking off in Brazil on Thursday, traders note that the sporting frenzy could have an impact on already low volumes.

Credit Suisse traders said in a note on Wednesday morning that they expect \”terrible\” volumes in U.S. markets toward the end of the week after the first whistle blows, blaming the upcoming contest.

The rationale? Everyone will be staring at the TV rather than their Bloomberg terminals. Whether this holds true for the generally soccer-unenthusiastic Americans will be tested in the coming weeks. As Matthew Lynn points out in his column on Wednesday, North America is starting to embrace \”football played with feet.\”

He also has a few stats on that: Average attendances at games are almost 20,000, closing in on the 30,000 for major league baseball. Starting next year, the domestic league will have 21 clubs, and it is starting to attract serious money and decent players.

\”There have been plenty of false dawns for soccer in the U.S., but now it is making real progress,\” he said in his column.

If the tournament draws financial traders from their desks to the TV screen, it\’ll be hurting volumes at a time when they are already close to their year lows. Analysts have warned that weak stock-trading activity and low volatility, coupled with record-high stock prices, could be the recipe for a new market plunge.

Several of the World Cup matches are played during U.S. working hours, while the majority of Europe will have already called it a day when most of the games start. See full schedule.

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